How We Help

With the help of our supporters and volunteers, Second Harvest Food Bank works through a network of more than 200 non-profit partner agencies and programs to provide wholesome food and fresh produce to more than 250,000 hungry children, seniors and families in Orange County every month.

Meals for Kids

Child Hunger Strategy

Children are our most vital resource and because more than 117,000 may go hungry each month, we work diligently to fight childhood hunger through our Kids Cafe and School Pantry Programs.

It is our mission to help feed these children when they need it most, after-school, during the summer months, and on weekends.

Kids Cafe

Our Kids Cafe Program provides healthy, delicious meals to 2,700 children every day after school at 49 locations in Orange County. These locations are in low-income neighborhoods where the number of children who qualify for the Free and Reduced Lunch can be as high as 99%. In the summer, we provide lunch and a snack so children never have to go hungry.

School Pantry

We operate two models of the School Pantry Program – a Mobile Program and a Permanent Program. Our Mobile School Pantry, now in its third year, brings food to schools in underserved neighborhoods. Here the local volunteers set up the fresh produce in a farmers market-style distribution at 18 schools in Orange County each month, reaching over 200 families each time.

La Colonia Permanent School Pantry

Our first Permanent School Pantry, called the Lion’s Den, was piloted in late 2015 at Lincoln Elementary School in Anaheim. We now have a second Permanent School Pantry, the Mercado El Sol at El Sol Science and Art Academy in Santa Ana. Our most recent Permanent School Pantry, opened in December 2017 is called La Colonia Market located in the Anaheim Independencia Family Resource Center. It was created in collaboration with Community Action Partnership, which operates Orange County Food Bank.

These food pantries are set up like mini-marts and it’s here that families can shop weekly with an appointment, choosing two full bags of the food their families needs. The Permanent School Pantries feature fresh groceries like eggs and milk, cheese, butter and yogurt, frozen foods, meats, fresh produce, non-perishable items, and even hygiene and paper goods, which help families stretch their limited incomes even further.

Groceries for Seniors

Nearly 22% of the seniors in Orange County are at risk of going hungry. Seniors should not have to choose between food and medication or food and rent. That’s why we created programs especially for seniors.

Senior Grocery

Our Senior Grocery Programs provides low-income seniors with healthy, fresh food options twice per month at nearly 40 locations in Orange County. More than 3,500 seniors in Orange County benefit from this free program offered at Senior Centers, Community Centers, Low-Income Senior Apartments, and other locations with large numbers of low-income seniors.

Park-It Market

Park-It Market

The Park-It Market is our newest and most innovative tool in the fight against senior hunger. This first-of-its-kind, partially-refrigerated, free market travels Monday through Friday for weekly scheduled visits to 20 local senior centers and low-income senior apartment complexes. The trailer was designed with seniors in mind, allowing easy access for seniors who can select from a healthful variety of meat, eggs and dairy items, vegetables, fruit, canned goods, bread, and more.

The Park-It Market carries 6,000 pounds of nutritious food at each stop. It will serve 1,000 seniors each week and will provide the equivalent of 1 million meals to seniors each year.

Fresh Food for Families and Individuals

Through our network of hundreds of community partners distributing food at locations throughout the county, Second Harvest feeds more than 250,000 food insecure individuals each month.

There are 301,000 people in Orange County at risk of hunger. With the extremely high cost of living in our area, even working families can’t make ends meet sometimes. We coordinate the delivery of food to hungry families through the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program and we partner with more than 200 agencies to supply vital food to families living under the poverty level.